Data suggests online sales to keep growing after holiday rush

A report from Firstnumber suggests that despite Christmas being less than one week away, ecommerce sales may have only just peaked and are expected to remain strong after the holiday sales have ended.

Most online retailers anticipated December 5 would be the busiest online shopping day of the year, and U.K. shoppers were expected to visit online stores 2.1 billion times throughout the entire month. However, Firstnumber believes recent online shopping data indicates Boxing Day will also produce dense traffic for ecommerce sites.

"With Christmas 2011 set to be a record breaker for online retailers and retail in general, (Firstnumber) also believes that Boxing Day will offer another opportunity for retailers to expect more online traffic, both from users hoping to identify the stores offering the best offers, and to take advantage of further discounted products," said a spokesperson for Firstnumber.

One example of a fast-growing U.K.-based online store that stands to benefit from the increased ecommerce activity this holiday season is BBQBarbecues, which has seen significant growth in the past year and just recently launched its own Facebook page. The ecommerce site joined Facebook to increase its online presence, as it finds new ways to tell U.K. consumers about its gas and charcoal barbecue offerings.

"Not only does this page help us with marketing, but it plays an important role in our aim to provide top notch customer service," said Scott Morris, marketing manager for the retailer.